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Use when authoring, restructuring, splitting, or auditing any docs page or content collection in this repo — choosing what type a page should be, deciding what belongs on it, or checking accuracy, structure, and completeness before a release.

thejustinwalsh By thejustinwalsh schedule Updated 5/24/2026

name: documentation description: Use when authoring, restructuring, splitting, or auditing any docs page or content collection in this repo — choosing what type a page should be, deciding what belongs on it, or checking accuracy, structure, and completeness before a release.

Documentation

Docs are part of the product. This skill governs their structure and quality; for the voice of the prose, REQUIRED SUB-SKILL: marketing-voice.

The backbone rule

Every page is exactly ONE Diátaxis type — tutorial, how-to, reference, or explanation. A page that serves four needs serves none.

This is the defect agents miss most, because a clean layout hides it. Both observed baselines failed here: an authoring agent fused explanation + a "quick-start arc" + four reference tables into one page and called it a "task-completion arc"; an audit agent praised the same fusion as "progressive disclosure" and never flagged it. Comprehensive ≠ correct. Tidy ≠ single-purpose.

So, before writing or reviewing a page, name its one type out loud. Then read diataxis.md and hold the page to that type's must / must-not list. Content that belongs to another type gets a one-line cross-link, never an inlined section.

Which file

digraph d {
  "Task?" [shape=diamond];
  "Authoring or restructuring a page" [shape=box];
  "Auditing existing docs" [shape=box];
  "Task?" -> "Authoring or restructuring a page" [label="write"];
  "Task?" -> "Auditing existing docs" [label="review"];
  "Authoring or restructuring a page" -> "diataxis.md";
  "Auditing existing docs" -> "audit.md (type purity = Layer 2)";
}
  • Authoring / restructuring / splittingdiataxis.md — the four types, their must/must-not rules, the three-flatland IA mapping, mode-mixing smells, and the split recipe.
  • Auditingaudit.md — the four-layer audit (accuracy, engagement, LLM files, JSDoc). Type purity is Layer 2, criterion #5. Run it in addition to accuracy drift, not instead.
  • Supporting reference (loaded as needed by audit.md): loved-docs-patterns.md, visual-devices.md, react-best-practices.md.

Red flags — STOP and name the type

Rationalization Reality
"The page is comprehensive / progressive disclosure." A clean layout is not a single purpose. Name the one type; the rest is a split candidate.
"It's a task-completion arc." That fuses tutorial + how-to + reference. Pick one; link the others.
"Splitting causes duplication." It doesn't — you cross-link. Each page does one job; the link carries the rest.
"One page is more convenient for the reader." Convenient to skim, useless to use. The learner, the task-doer, and the looker-up each need a different page.
"A reference table fits naturally in this how-to." Then the table belongs on the Reference/API page; link to it. A how-to shows the one call you need, not every option.

These all mean: stop, name the page's single type, and move other-type content out per diataxis.md.

Install via CLI
npx skills add https://github.com/thejustinwalsh/three-flatland --skill documentation
Repository Details
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article Path SKILL.md
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